The present invention relates generally to the field of temperature-controlled display devices (e.g. refrigerated display devices or cases, etc.) having a temperature-controlled space for storing and displaying products such as refrigerated foods or other perishable objects. More specifically, the present invention relates to a refrigerated display case having an active evaporative condensate dissipation system for vaporizing liquid condensate (e.g., melted frost or ice from a cooling coil).
It is well known to provide a temperature-controlled display device (e.g., a refrigerator, freezer, refrigerated merchandiser, refrigerated display case, etc.) that may be used in commercial, institutional, and residential applications for storing or displaying refrigerated or frozen objects. For example, it is known to provide service type refrigerated display cases for displaying fresh food products (e.g., beef, pork, poultry, fish, etc.) in a supermarket or other commercial setting.
Such refrigerated cases typically include cooling elements (e.g. cooling coils, heat exchangers, evaporators, etc.) that receive a coolant (e.g. a liquid such as a glycol-water mixture, a refrigerant, etc.) from a cooling system (e.g., a refrigeration system) during a cooling mode or operation to provide cooling to the temperature-controlled space. The cooling system may operate to provide coolant to the cooling element at a temperature below 32° F., thereby causing moisture from the air in the ambient environment to condense on the cooling element, and resulting in an accumulation of frost and/or ice on an exterior surface of the cooling element.
The frost and/or ice can be removed (e.g. melted) during a defrost mode or operation. The melted frost and/or ice (e.g. liquid condensate, water, etc.) from the cooling coil is usually routed to a suitable drain at or near the case's location. However, for implementations in which a drain is not conveniently accessible at the location of the refrigerated case, it may be necessary to allow the liquid condensate to accumulate in a suitable repository or receptacle. The repository may be configured for removal to permit manually disposing the liquid condensate (e.g. by pouring down a remote drain, etc.), or the repository may be configured to simply contain the liquid condensate until it dissipates by evaporation.
Previous evaporative dissipation systems have a number of deficiencies. For example, previous systems tend to overflow or spill when the rate of liquid condensate generated from defrosting exceeds the rate at which the liquid condensate can dissipate. This situation is exacerbated as ambient humidity rises because more defrosting of the cooling element is required, but less of the condensate evaporates in the humid conditions. It would be desirable to provide a refrigerated display device or case with an improved evaporative condensate dissipation system that overcomes these and other disadvantages.
This section is intended to provide a background or context to the invention recited in the claims. The description herein may include concepts that could be pursued, but are not necessarily ones that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, what is described in this section is not prior art to the description and claims in this application and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.